The tech billionaire's SpaceX satellites are catching heat in the country after Beijing complained that two satellites launched by the American aerospace manufacturer endangered Chinese astronauts.
Chinese State media scrutinized the incidents, which involved satellites that are part of SpaceX's Starlink constellation — a project that promises to beam high-speed internet across the entire planet. The Global Times, a state-run tabloid, cited an expert Monday who speculated that SpaceX may have been"trying to test China's capability and response awareness in space."
SpaceX did not respond to a request from CNN Business for comment about the document that China filed with the UN, nor to questions about whether the company was able to communicate with Chinese authorities during the incidents. But that satellite constellation, other similar planned projects and increasing commercial and government activity in space has contributed to a growing problem: how to manage traffic in space.
Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, pointed out that the International Space Station has had to maneuver out of the way of debris created by China's 2007 ASAT test several times in recent years. The Starlink website, though, says that autonomous collision avoidance technology is embedded into its satellites, allowing them to automatically duck out of the way if they detect a potential crash with an oncoming piece of space junk, a space station or any other space-faring object.
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